Author:

Wilfried Wurth(Department Physics and Centre for Free-Electron Laser Science, University of Hamburg)

FLASH, the Free-Electron Laser at DESY in Hamburg is a world-wide unique
facility delivering intense ultra-short coherent radiation pulses in the
wavelength range between 47 and 6.8 nm.
FLASH is a high-gain free-electron laser based on a superconducting linear
accelerator currently running at 1GeV. Laser amplification and saturation in
the so-called SASE (self-amplified spontaneous emission) mode is achieved
with a single pass of the electron bunch through a 30m undulator. A machine
upgrade which has been started recently will boost the energy to 1.2 GeV
expanding the wavelength range to below 5nm. After the upgrade FLASH will
also include the seeding experiment sFLASH where an external laser will
overlap with the electron beam to seed the SASE process. First beam with the
upgraded facility is expected in spring 2010.
Since 2005 FLASH has been operating as a user facility serving a large
variety of experiments. The unprecedented brilliance of the femtosecond
coherent pulses in the extreme ultraviolet (XUV) and soft x-ray regime has
been used to study nonlinear process in laser-matter interaction for atoms
and molecules, to gain new insights in the properties of matter under
extreme conditions and to perform single shot lens-less imaging of
nano-sized objects. Furthermore, the pulse duration of less than 30
femtoseconds has allowed to gain new insights in ultrafast dynamics of
matter.
In the talk I will review machine performance and give examples of highlight
experiments.

*supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research through priority program FSP 301 FLASH

To cite this abstract, use the following reference: http://meetings.aps.org/link/BAPS.2010.MAR.L8.4